Childlessness by choice: Who will take care of me when I’m old you ask?

Heaps of elderly people live up the remainder of their lives in Retirement Villages and Communities, irrespective of whether they are childless or have kids.

What happens in the ROWDIEST retirement villages in the world!

This is an image I found off google, I cannot confirm that this older woman is in a retirement village. But please let your imaginations run wild! Perhaps, she is at home? I mean… I still think this goes on in a rowdy retirement village.

This 2nd image is the real deal. Buzzfeed published an article called ‘Seven Days And Nights In The World’s Largest, Rowdiest Retirement Community.’

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I read a terrific monologue on notadirtyword.com in response to “Who will take care of me when I’m old you ask?”

Samuel Greg, the author of the monologue says that”Anyone who announces their intention not to have children has inevitably been asked this question.”

I think Gregs bavely reflects on the ends of lives of elderly with kids or childfree. He does so in an empathetic yet realistic and relateable way. I could see the arguments Greg’s was making by reflecting on my own grandparents experiences.

Greg’s answer to the question”Who will take care of me when I’m old you ask?” drastically flips the balance of benefits and downfalls of having kids and their ability to help in parents’ end of life stages.

Here’s an excerpt that I found that provoking and potentially a game-changer in terms of social consciousness:

When I near the end of my life I won’t be asking anyone to put their
life on hold for me. I won’t be breaking anyone’s heart when I forget
their name or sending them home sobbing, burnt out and guilt-ridden
because they’re trying to care for me while trying to keep their own
lives afloat.

Instead I’ll be cared for by those who are paid to care for me. And if
no one comes to visit it will be because all whom I knew are now gone,
not because my children and grandchildren have left me to wither alone
and die.

For me it’ll be those who have chosen to spend their
careers taking care of the old like me. They will come in, care for
me, and then go home to their own families without me weighing heavily
on their hearts. For you it will be people who love you but who are
woefully unprepared for the years of heartache, guilt and
work that they had no choice but to take on. They’ll spend their days
walking around with a broken heart and their nights staining their
pillow with tears.

So yes, I do know who will take care of me when I’m old. Now please
tell me again how I’m the selfish one.

 

Source: http://notadirtyword.com/2016/08/get-old-living-childfree-life/